All posts by Marco Santana

I was a tech journalist for more than 10 years. Now, I'm writing about the things I have built a passion for in that time.

Full Sail grad, ‘Ratchet & Clank’ vet Shaun McCabe sought chance to explore amazing worlds, characters

When Shaun McCabe joined Insomniac Games near the end of 2003, shortly after he earned a degree from Full Sail University, he jumped into a game that the company hoped would recapture the magic it had discovered with its popular “Spyro the Dragon” series.

McCabe became the sound programmer on the adventure game “Ratchet & Clank,” the story of a Lombax named Ratchet who traveled around with a robot companion named Clank.

Several “Ratchet & Clank” titles later, McCabe continues to build video games for the studio as its head of technology.

“On the technical side, our good friends at Naughty Dog offered to let us use components of the ‘Jak & Daxter’ engine as a foundation for a demo,” he said. “The rest, as they say, is history. It speaks to the true nature of creativity. Great products are often the result of constraints and culture rather than resources and strategy.”

McCabe was recently named to Full Sail University’s Hall of Fame and granted The OVG an interview to talk about his career and his time in Orlando.

Continue reading Full Sail grad, ‘Ratchet & Clank’ vet Shaun McCabe sought chance to explore amazing worlds, characters

Call of Duty league to come to Orlando for Mutineers home game

One of two events hosted by Florida’s Call of Duty League franchise, The Mutineers, will take place in Orlando, the league announced on Monday.

On April 11 and 12, the league’s Week 10 will bring the Seattle Surge, Atlanta Faze, Paris Legion, Toronto Ultra and New York Subliners to Orlando for in-season clashes.

Each team will play 22 matches during the regular season, which will conclude in a postseason tournament sometime after the final July 25 and 26 weekend, which will be hosted in Miami.

Continue reading Call of Duty league to come to Orlando for Mutineers home game

Watch: Final Fantasy VI medley by The Returners at Ongaku Overdrive

Want to hear a rock band perform a medley of Final Fantasy VI songs?

Of course you do.

The Returners are a rock band from Austin, Texas, that specializes in covers of video game songs.

They have done their treatment on game music from titles including Legend of Zelda and Ico.

On Saturday, they were one of four bands to perform at The Abbey in Orlando during Ongaku Overdrive, a salute to Final Fantasy music.

Continue reading Watch: Final Fantasy VI medley by The Returners at Ongaku Overdrive

‘Nerdcore’ concert in Orlando a Final Fantasy homage

Lauren Liebowitz was perhaps destined to be in a band, since her mother was a piano teacher.

But the lead singer of The Returners likely couldn’t imagine as a young girl that her dad’s video game obsession would also play into her music career.

The Austin, Texas, based band specializes in “nerdcore,” playing cover songs of the music in popular video games like Majora’s Mask, Ico and the Final Fantasy series.

“Everything we play is because one of us loves it,” Liebowitz told The OVG on Saturday. “We are doing this because we love it.”

Watch: Final Fantasy VI medley by The Returners at Ongaku Overdrive

The Returners were one of four bands to perform at The Abbey on Saturday for Ongaku Overdrive, a celebration of performers who specialize in video game music covers.

Continue reading ‘Nerdcore’ concert in Orlando a Final Fantasy homage

Watch: the Orlando guy who builds video games into wine caskets

Darrin Yesbeck’s idea for a video game machine embedded into wine casks was popular on Saturday, when the Orlando entrepreneur showed off Barrel of Kong at Maker Faire Orlando.

His exhibit saw a steady stream of visitors and passersby couldn’t seem to pass by without at least commenting about how cool they thought it was.

Continue reading Watch: the Orlando guy who builds video games into wine caskets

REPORT: Orlando man makes video game machines out of wine, whiskey barrels

Donkey Kong would be proud.

An Orlando man will be part of the annual Orlando Maker Faire this weekend showing off video game machines he has made out of wine and whiskey barrels, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Darrin Yesbeck, 45, got the idea after staying up late with his daughter while on vacation playing Pac-Man.

He enjoyed the bonding so much, he built his first cabinet when he returned home.

Continue reading REPORT: Orlando man makes video game machines out of wine, whiskey barrels

Orlando video game devs: You need thick skin … and a lot of assets

Orlando video game developers Caris Frazier-Baker and Brian Stabile have been working two years to bring their jai alai game to life.

That has meant an aggressive and tireless promotional effort, which has put them on the floor of video game conferences across the U.S.

What have they learned by going through this process with Jai Alai Heroes? The OVG asked them.

Continue reading Orlando video game devs: You need thick skin … and a lot of assets

From Atari 2600 to rapping about Final Fantasy VII. A chat with Mega Ran.

It started with the Atari 2600.

A young Raheem Jarbo sat in his living room in Philadelphia, gobbling up pellets in Pac Man and jumping pits and running the jungles of Pitfall.

That became an obsession with the Super Nintendo and then PlayStation, which ultimately led to Final Fantasy VII, as it often did.

Now, Raheem Jarbo, AKA Mega Ran, travels the country performing his rap songs based on the giant video game franchise.

In a far-reaching interview, we talked about his obsession with the game and some of his rap influences.

Continue reading From Atari 2600 to rapping about Final Fantasy VII. A chat with Mega Ran.

Pac Man maze coming to Orlando next year

If you have ever wanted to be chased through a maze by Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde – and who among us hasn’t? – the folks at Orlando Weekly shared some news that should get you excited.

A real-life Pac Man maze will come to Orlando next October as part of a newly created attraction.

It will put players in a layout similar to the popular video game, with the goal being to navigate the maze and collect fruit along the way.

Continue reading Pac Man maze coming to Orlando next year

3 industry pros receive Full Sail hall of fame nods

Three video game professionals were among the six Full Sail University alumni named to the Winter Park school’s Hall of Fame class of 2019.

Erin Eberhardt of Blizzard Entertainment, sound designer Mark Kilborn and Insomniac Games’ head of technology Shaun McCabe will be inducted in a March ceremony.

Continue reading 3 industry pros receive Full Sail hall of fame nods